Dhaka, Sep 24 (IANS) Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) ordered former Awami League lawmaker Zafar Alam to be sent to jail after formally declaring him ‘arrested’ in a crimes against humanity case linked to the killings of two opposition workers during the party’s tenure, local media reported.
According to the case, Zafar Alam allegedly led the killing of one individual after the death of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi and another following the disappearance of current Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed.
Sayeedi, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a crime against humanity case linked to the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, died in 2023, while Salahuddin Ahmed disappeared in 2015, Bangladeshi Bengali daily Prothom Alo reported.
Addressing reporters, Prosecutor Md. Mizanul Islam claimed that two people were allegedly killed under the leadership of Zafar Alam, one after the funeral of Sayeedi and the other after Salahuddin Ahmed was kidnapped. The victims were identified as BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami workers.
The ICT sent the former Awami League lawmaker to jail after he was produced before the Tribunal on Wednesday.
Zafar Alam was arrested by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka on April 27 last year.
Following the Awami League’s ouster in 2024, around 15 to 16 cases were filed against him in Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Chakaria and Pekua, including murder charges.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Awami League on Thursday strongly condemned the decision to show Zafar Alam arrested in what it described as a “questionable and unjustified” case.
The party questioned how an ordinary murder case, filed over the death of one person in a local clash, could be brought under the jurisdiction of the ICT.
“The International Crimes Tribunal was not established to try ordinary murder cases. Under the law, crimes such as murder fall within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction as crimes against humanity only when they are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population,” it added.
Slamming the ruling BNP administration, the Awami League alleged that Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed was using the Tribunal to pursue a political vendetta.
“Home Minister Salahuddin is using the Tribunal as if it were his personal property to pursue political revenge. Senior Awami League leader Zafar Alam is being harassed and subjected to persecution without any clear rationale or credible evidence. Home Minister Salahuddin has failed to learn from history. Stop this harassment and political vengeance immediately. Otherwise, time and history may eventually bring you to the same dock,” the party stated.
–IANS
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